Subtle Selling: The Key to Writing Great Content AND Making Money Online

Note from Marcus*** Just some quick news before today’s rockin article folks. Today(Tuesday) I’ll be flying out to Cleveland to speak at Content Marketing World. I’m sure I’ll be writing quite a bit about this event in the coming days but if anyone lives in the Cleveland area and would like to catch up, please let me know.

Also, last week I was interviewed by Steve Roy over at the great blog Ending the Grind. If you’d like to listen to the podcast, please check it out, as it really dives into how the community here at TSL has grown into something so special, as well as many other areas of business and marketing.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…… 🙂

I look around the web and can’t help but notice how many bloggers get so frustrated with the fact that they can’t seem to make money with their blogs. And honestly, when I see this, my response is normally about the same:

“Duh, you’re not selling me anything.”

Yep. That’s right. You may think your offering this product or that service (because you *mention* it somewhere on your ‘about’ page), but the reality is I (and everyone else), as your potential customer, have no clue what you do, which is why you keep wondering when the checks from your blog are going to start rolling in.

The Art of Subtle Selling

Here’s the thing my friends: If you really want to create a brand and a blog that make good money you have to learn the art of ‘subtle selling’ (as I like to call it), which is essentially the skill of integrating your services into your content…without sounding like a pitching machine.

You know what I mean by pitching machine, right? Yeah, it’s that guy or gal that seems to offer you something ‘amazing’ and ‘for a limited time only’ with every new email that hits your inbox. Eventually, after you realize this blogger gives you the content value of a brick, you happily unsubscribe from their mind-numbing newsletters. (Nod if you’ve seen this before…. 😉 )

But on the other hand, you’ve got another entire group online that are the opposite of ‘the pitching machine’. They write content all day, even sometimes build awesome communities, but don’t sell squat.

Thus we have an ‘all or nothing’ mentality all over the web, and it’s got to stop if we want to start making money folks.

Great Content Combined with Selling

Let me give you an example of exactly what I’m talking about. This past June, I wrote an article entitled 12 Hours to Change a Company Forever: A Story About Business and Life. For those of you that haven’t read this article (actually, stop now and just read the thing 🙂 ), it tells of a trip I made to Arizona to help a company kick-off their inbound marketing efforts and revamp their web presence. The post, which was written with a unique hour-by-hour timeline, discusses every facet of inbound marketing I covered with the company (i.e. my services) and what was accomplished (i.e. the results of my services) with the visit.

Because the experience was full of lessons of what this company was missing and what they needed to do next to achieve better marketing, the article had plenty of value to the readers of this blog because just about everyone could relate to components of the story in one way or another.

But what most folks don’t understand is that because of that one article, on multiple occasions since I’ve heard a derivative of this phrase:

Marcus, I remember reading about how you went out to that one company and worked with them and their website. I’d like you to do something similar with our company…

My friends, this is the type of statement you should be hearing again and again from your customers. They read your stuff. They hear your stories. And they clearly see you can be the guy/gal to come up with the answers to their problems.

But again, the key here is learning to talk about client experiences while offering killer content to your reader base.

Let’s look at another person who really ‘gets’ the art of subtle selling.

Falchetto Doing It Right

Yesterday I had a conversation with a client about fear, let’s call him “Steve”.

Without going into the details, Steve feels that if he embraces who he truly is, he would end up alone. His business has been growing steadily over the past years but he doesn’t feel he is expressing his unique and authentic self.

He fears that by discovering his he is more than what he thinks he is, his world as he knows it will collapse. It will…

John went on to talk about ‘Steve’ and used the story as the foundation of the theme of the article—overcoming fear.

In essence, this is the perfect example of subtle selling. To one reader, John was simply talking about fear. To another, he was telling him “Hey, I can coach and mentor you just as I’ve coached and mentored ‘Steve’.

Get Real

Do you see what I’m saying here? If you’re not talking about real life experiences that you’re having with customers often on your blog, then you’re seriously missing out on major business opportunities. (BTW, John has signed up multiple coaching clients this year simply because of his blog.)

Keep in mind though that this principle applies to any blog, any industry, and any niche.

Just to give you one last quick example, let’s use the article I posted for my swimming pool company today. The title of the post was “Just How Much Fun are Inground Swimming Pools…Really??”, and it consisted an incredible under-water video taken by a customer of mine as their boys kept jumping in their swimming pool. If you read the article(and watch the video), you’ll see the ‘theme’ of the piece is ‘Yes, Pools are dang fun.’, but you’ll also notice how in a very subtle manner I mentioned the fact that the video was produced by a very happy customer of River Pools and Spas who had their pool installed last year in the town of Stafford Va. (Little details like places add social proof, and further enhance an article’s ability to sell).

Tell the World

My point in mentioning this is simple my friends. Stop just writing content that doesn’t actually talk about your services. If you really are helping people out there, for the love of Pete start telling the world about it. Again, this doesn’t mean that you brag. Rather, it’s a simple process of telling others what life has taught you….which in-turn tell us why you’re the best man for the job. 🙂

Subtle selling folks. Do it, and watch the results that will follow.

Your Turn:

OK, so we may not get 250 comments on this article like we did on the last one, but I still expect some great discussion. In your opinion, what makes for great ‘subtle selling’? And, are you using this skill like you should be on your blog? If not, WHY?? If so, what works well for you? As always, jump on in folks, I’d love to hear your story.

I agree with your post here regarding selling in that it seems like it’s all or nothing. I feel like those who hammer promos with each email were “taught” to do it that way, while those who never sell at all are a bit scared. I think one’s resultant sales, or lack of, speak volumes about technique.

As far as telling the world – yes! If you have a hard time tooting your own horn, then you can allow others to help you out; weave in their feedback about you and your products into your posts and sales pages.

What makes for subtle selling? I’ve had the most success when I share my experiences with a product. I’ll do a case study of some sort and just chat about how I took product xyz out of the box, how I used it, why I used it, and my results. Sometimes I screw things up and I share that too.

Thanks, Marcus. Peggy

September 6, 2011 at 9:33 am

Nic Cartwright

HI Marcus – good read. Subtle is good – and subtle is best (increasingly so) when it comes to sales for companies. No one enjoys being ‘sold to’ – so you have to find a way to achieve your business targets (sales) whilst satisfying the customer’s need to be entertained / rewarded / educated / etc

In a similar vein – I am about to switch my blog to mostly talk about my hunt for a job in a new country – effectively selling myself – and once again – I will need to tone down the hard sell and ramp up the ‘enlightening human side’ to get people’s interest / pay checks…

September 6, 2011 at 9:40 am

Adam Sokoloff

Hey Marcus, hope you had a great Labor Day weekend! Thanks for bringing up this point. I think it is definitely about walking a fine line between the two. Last week I ended up on a webinar by a very well known blogger, that was on a good relevant topic. The materials that were presented were excellent and could be very helpful for my business. I expected that there be some sort of pitch, or “soft sell” at the end of the event. What we got was the “buy now, and we’ll throw in everything but the kitchen sink offer”. I don’t ever want to be that kind of marketer. Worse, I don’t think it represented the blogger very well.

I guess I can’t fault them too much. In the end, I bought, but only cause they threw in a set of ginsu knives lol!

September 6, 2011 at 10:18 am

Jk Allen

Hey Marcus, I loved this one.

Great timing too, because one blog that I followed for quite sometime had a super aggressive sales pitch over the past few weeks. It made me feel as if the site had been building an audience over the past 6-8 months for the goal of having an audience for their recent sales campaign only. It wasn’t only aggressive but it managed to get a little offensive and down right “used car salesman’sh”. I hate that stuff man. It doesn’t make me want to buy…it makes me want to run!

I think the lesson you taught today is one that many stand to learn more about. I think it’s hard for people to understand how they can take a much more passive approach and get much better results. You’re the proof…but fortunately not the only proof. I hope others share their experience with Subtle Selling to show that what you taught here is gold.

I’m not an aggressive guy. I’m naturally subtle and laid back. I mention this because by the end of the year, you’ll start seeing some of these things from me. Speaking about what I’ve been up to and what I have to offer to the world- in a very non-aggressive format.

I learned in business when dealing with large organizations and being connected with executives that they don’t want to be sold to. They want to know what you can do, but not directly sold to. So I had to master the art of indirect selling. Understanding their business enough to offer solutions based on services that I had to offer. It was tricky, but over time it was an easier and more comfortable pitch. And it got results. And that’s what you do…you understand peoples needs and you provide education and share stories of your experience in that area. It’s so simple – yet so under practiced

In closing – that underwater video was awesome. Made me want a swimming pool in my backyard. Also, your interview with Steve Roy is great (still listening now).

Best of luck to you at Content Marketing World. That’s your shtick, so I know you’ll crush it.

PEACE

September 6, 2011 at 11:35 am

Bill Dorman

At least you didn’t say ‘insurance salesmen-ish’……..how was that Marcus, was that subtle or would it be over the top if I included @LanierUpshaw too…….:)

September 6, 2011 at 11:39 am

Bill Dorman

You make some good points as I have been the ‘nothing’ so far. I have alluded to my profession in posts but that’s about it. I do have an ‘ideal’ customer I try to identify and seek out and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to find them in the social arena I’m currently running in. However, I can always learn and it’s interesting to read about other people’s successes and the blogging is helping me with my communication skills so it’s not like I’m wasting my time.

September 6, 2011 at 11:51 am

Tom Ewer

Hi Marcus,

Best of luck with your speaking gig – having seen a couple of your videos, I know you’ll nail it.

I’ve downloaded the podcast interview and will be sure to give that a listen on my next 30+ minute car journey 🙂

I agree with everything that you’ve said (one day I’ll find something to disagree with you about ;)). You probably recognise though that you have only scratched the surface with this topic – great content marketing is far more of an art than a science, and is incredibly involved.

All the best,

Tom

September 6, 2011 at 11:58 am

Steve Roy

Marcus, First off, thanks again for the killer interview and for the shout out here, that’s awesome of you.

What your talking about is exactly how I feel about internet marketing. I actually can’t stand the “act now for 50% off” or “3 days left until the price increases” hype but it seems like it comes with the territory.

One of the reasons I’ve waited so long to introduce a product is that I don’t want to be just another blogger peddling their wares. I think people are getting sick of seeing the Paypal button and 30 day guarantee badge on every site.

Personally, I don’t read any email that looks like a sales page. I’ve definitely been in the “nothing” camp, which is abviously not getting me closer to my financial goal of getting me out of my job. On the other hand, the last thing I want to do is sell something that’s not unique and extraordinary.

I actually had a blog critique service for a while, which did poorly, and I know that I didn’t “sell” it in any of posts or really even talk about it. I just put it up and expected it do convert. FAIL.

When I do have a product available, I’ll be sure to employ your strategy, as it makes so much sense!

September 6, 2011 at 12:45 pm

Robert

Hey Marcus,

I love this post man. See the thing about you is that everyone knows what you do, but it’s not shoved in anyone’s face. It’s so true that with blogs online, 99% of people either sell nothing or use the “used car salesman’sh” as Jk so aptly called it. Awesome points made by Jk about the blog, I had a similar experience myself. I think that people who constantly try to blatantly sell you stuff are just desperate; and desperate is never a good sign.

To me its all about adding value, demonstrating your knowledge so that people see you as the “go-to” guy or the authority in your sector.

Jk, great point about people not wanting to be directly sold to. They want to know “WIFM” “What’s In It For Me” if they use your services.

I wish that a couple of well known bloggers in the community had thought about this before they lost a heap of loyal readers.

Marcus, you are the master of subtle selling! I wish more people realised that there’s more to life than money and trying to sell stuff to your friends.

September 6, 2011 at 12:56 pm

leon Noone

G’Day Marcus, Bloody Hell! I’m an Aussie. Where’d ya find this word subtle? Does it mean the same as suttle?

Anyway, I’ll give it a go.As I explained to that Michael Schechter, any bloke who digs holes in people’s gardens, whacks a piece of plastic in ’em, fills ’em with water, calls ’em swimming pools and convinces people to pay an arm and a leg for ’em, ought to be taken notice of.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

If I’m hugely successful, I might be able to afford one of them dang-like that?- swimmin’ pool thingies!

Besr Wishes Leon

September 6, 2011 at 1:44 pm

Eugene

I’m just going to start by saying how bummed I am that I won’t be in Cleveland for this conference. I’m going back there next week for a wedding, and going back two weeks in a row just isn’t realistic at this point.

Whoever put this conference together has HORRIBLE timing. Pass it on :).

Oh, and great interview with Steve by the way. Seriously, I’m a regular visitor to both of your blogs and it was a pleasant surprise to see you two get together.

But back to the post…is that why I’m here? 🙂

I definitely need to pick up my sales efforts. And I love the idea of “subtle selling”, unfortunately I just don’t do it enough.

The great thing about it, I think, is a lot of people would feel a lot more comfortable doing the “subtle selling” technique rather than trying to push products and services down people’s throats.

September 6, 2011 at 2:27 pm

Brian Driggs

Hi Marcus, first time commenter. John Falchetto sort of sent me (though I see other people here I recognize, too).

This is nice shot in the arm for me. The 19th of this month will be two years my business has been “in business.” In that time, we’ve not sold a damn thing. To be honest, it’s not been a concern. Our service is improving the lives of others and we don’t think we should charge money for that.

Still, I would really like to see us making enough money to quit our day jobs (there are currently three of us in three countries, and we’d like to hire on a few more), mainly so we can facilitate even greater improvements in peoples’ lives.

That said, this is a reminder to me that, even though our product is suggesting the value of the individual, we need to be also sharing stories of how these individuals are feeling more valued. We need to follow up.

So I’m going to give it a try, but first, “11 Hours to Change a Company…”

Cheers.

September 6, 2011 at 2:39 pm

paul wolfe

Hey marcus….this is interesting.

I agree with some of it – and not with other parts.

Subtle can work – Pat Flynn over at SPI is a great example. He creates case studies or detailed reviews of products he’s going to affiliate – or he interviews the creators and gets some good content and then mentions their product.

But subtle is a hard way to sell your own products and services. For sure the methods you mentioned in your post work as a side dish, but IMO they should never be the main course.

If you create a product or service that is quality and that you’re proud of – then why shouldn’t you be proud to stand up and tell people about it? You’re not forcing them to buy – you can present them with the information and then it’s up to them to make a decision.

The reason some people come across as clumsy and hypy is because they don’t understand how to sell – there’s a good reason why the top copywriters get 5 or 6 figures AND royalties per sales letter. For the rest of us folks we have to muddle along as best we can – a good source to check out is PERSUASION by Robert Cialdini. (You’ll learn about how to use scarcity properly too!).

Subtle has its uses. But its only a minor tool in the seller’s toolbox (again, IMO). If you put something out and expect to sell a bunch, it rarely happens like that. You have to tell people that you’re selling something – and remind them too! A good pre-sell sequence is a GREAT way of doing this in a non-spammy, non-hypy way. Especially if you transfer people who are interested to a different list.

I could go on….but Selling is a deep and complex subject (currently taking a 2.5K course on copywriting, pre-selling and consumption! so have more ideas on this than I used to).

HTH

Paul

September 6, 2011 at 3:50 pm

Emma

It’s interesting how subtlety has crept back into the modern vernacular, isn’t it? Here everyone was all up in arms about the decline of personal reserve, thanks to the advent of social media and its uncanny knack for information vomit. But now we’re finding that it’s best to invoke the practice of subtlety when we use social networking for sales. In much the same way one slips in clever hashtags into the body of a Tweet, sly sales is becoming the networking standard for those of us of the new media persuasion.

September 6, 2011 at 3:56 pm

Steve Scott

Marcus,

Another great post! It is so true that many people are out there just selling, selling, selling. It is all sizzle with little steak. It is far better to really show results.

Sort of like the old field of dreams thing, “If you build it they will come” focusing on having a “real” message and point and then selling around the edges of that. It does not have to be all hype.

Anyway I hope you had a great Labor day weekend man! Good luck with your speaking gig and I look forward to hearing all about it!

-Steve

September 6, 2011 at 5:16 pm

Shannon

Really good tips, thanks! 🙂 I think it can be a bit tricky trying to write a blog that readers will actually be interested in while still trying to sell something at the same time. There’s a fine line between being too sales-y and not selling anything at all. I try to make all my blog posts interesting and informative so that people will actually return and want to read more.

What can I say? I have to agree with my man Robert here. Pull is way more creatively interesting than push. Solid post, as usual MR. Marcus!

Lions!

September 6, 2011 at 8:31 pm

Matt Medeiros

My subtle selling is my Achilles heel.

Currently, I’m not promoting a call to action with my blog and I know that’s WRONG. Hell, I just wrote an article about how important it is!

But my subtle selling approach is the information, knowledge and experiences I write about on the blog to hopefully persuade someone to utilize my companies services.

Now that I think about this out loud, maybe a I should have a landing page with my services available that someone may want to sign up for.

Hmm…thanks for making me work this out!

September 6, 2011 at 8:43 pm

Adam

Marcus, you make a great case for the subtle sale. Subtlety is a perfect fit when you are trying to get a message across in a place people do not want to hear your “sales” message. For instance, in content that they came to in order to learn something.

I would say overt selling works well too (overt, does not mean pushy) but in a context where it is expected and accepted — such as the sales page for an ebook, or an ad.

I think both are excellent weapons in the sales arsenal to be used at the times they can be most effective.

Have a great time at CMW. I am sure you are going to kill it!

September 6, 2011 at 8:54 pm

Craig McBreen

Hi Marcus,

In my blog search I’ve encountered a few “pitching machines” so I’m nodding. I honestly continue to read some of these blogs though, as many of these people offer solid content, I just don’t buy their stuff. I certainly don’t see anything wrong with selling, but don’t tease me or scream sale every time I visit your site. And there are more than few who want to sell, but lack the real-world experience they are selling.

If there is no tease, and no spam I don’t have a problem with it. I agree with what Paul stated above regarding that. Some bloggers are downright clumsy with the sell and it’s a big turn off. Or some just don’t have the experience … so no clumsy salespeople or pretenders. But, there are guys like Pat Flynn who do it so well.

You mentioned your friend, Mr. Falchetto. It’s hard for me to find two people who do the subtle sell better. We see what you do. We see what you offer as a paid service, but you offer content that really helps and why people like me coming back, especially the case study posts you’ve written, or the real-world experiences we see in John’s writing.

Good luck with your big speaking engagement. You’ll kill, I’m sure.

September 6, 2011 at 10:36 pm

Erin Feldman

It sounds as though we should encourage each other to sell more (in a non-salesy way). I struggle to “sell” on my blog, too. Marcus’ points have helped me to think of some different ways to bring what I do into more of my posts.

September 6, 2011 at 11:14 pm

Marianne Worley

Hi Marcus,

I hope you’re having a great time at the conference. I’m sure your session will be jam packed!

Here is my take on this subject: Testing is everything. You won’t know how your target market will respond to an offer until you start testing. In my career, mostly in high-tech marketing, I’ve found that a direct/”tell your customer what to do” approach is more effective. However, there are definitely areas where I’ve used the subtle selling technique, such as in a community forum, with excellent results.

Both techniques work, but you have to test to determine which works best for you.

Pesonally, I don’t see anything wrong with selling. I fact, I thin a lot of selling shouldn’t be subtle whatsoever. The problem is that, especially online,there is so much of the ‘all or nothing’ approach that folks have to learn a happy medium to portray consistently to their customer base. Now granted, there will be moments of ‘hard sell’. And there will also be moments of really no sales message at all. But overall, there always needs to be a clear understanding (as you mentiond you recieve from John and me) as to what the person does and how that service benefits others. When done right, it works….big time.

Anyway, thank again bud. Your support is awesome.

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:18 pm

Marcus Sheridan

You’re absolutely correct Adam, over selling no doubt has its place (which I really should have done a better job of explaining in this article), it’s just that most people online are either overly ‘overt’, or nothing at all, at which point we’ve got us a problem. 😉

But thanks for this my friend and I hope all is well on your end.

Cheers,

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:20 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Yeah Matt, absolutely you should have a services page man. But more importantly, just make sure you’re talking about the experiences you’re having as you help companies and people with your services. If you do that often and well, you’ll build a powerful brand awareness without turning some folks off in the process because you screamed from the roof tops all day. 😉

Have a great week my friend, and thanks for dropping in…

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:22 pm

Marcus Sheridan

That’s exactly right Ryan. Push has its place in all this, of course, but one must be selective with it. Push all the time, and folks will push back, you know what I mean? 😉

Thanks for the kind words bud and appreciate you stopping in.

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:25 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Hi Shannon, it can be a bit tricky, but the key that people must understan is that if the don’t talk about what they do, in an often yet subtle manner, they’re seriously missing out on opportunities to garner new clients. But it sounds like you’re doing a great job on your end with this. 🙂

Thanks for taking a moment to comment,

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:27 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Hey Steve, love the analogy man– ‘All sizzle and little steak’. Yep, that’s a serious problem out there my friend, and the stuff can get old pretty quick unless the person is selective with the ‘hard sell’ portion of the process.

Anyway, I very much appreciate your comment and support Steve, and hope you have a great week as well.

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:29 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Dang Emma, I just LOVE how you worded this. Yep, that’s exactly it– kinda like slipping in those hashtags. It doesn’t turn folks off but it also opens those sales doors open even further. Quite the combination for successful business when done right.

So glad you added this Emma and I do hope you’ll come by again some time. 😉

Best,

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:38 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Ahhh Leon, you paint such a romantic picture of Marcus the Pool Guy ;-)….which is why I love ya buddy!

Thanks for all my friend,

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:41 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Hey Robert, thanks so very much for taking a moment to comment here today.

Yeah, it makes me sad when I see a blogger go over the edge with their selling. Don’t get me wrong, I want people to make money. I want bloggers to be rewarded for all the information and value they give to others.Notwithstanding, there is a tipping point where things can get ugly. And yes, you and I have both seen it I’m sure.

Continued success my friend,

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:44 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Hey Steve, my pleasure mentioning the podcast bud. You were a gracious host and I hope you got a few visits from my site here.

I think it’s admirable you are waiting until you’ve produced something great before you start selling stuff to your audience. Not that making money and selling is wrong at all, because it’s not, bt so many bloggers just throw something out there that’s crap, promote it hard, and then end up damaging their brand…..which is a bad strategy in my opinion. 😉

Cotinued success to you my friend, hope you leave that grind soon…

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:46 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Thanks so much for wishing me luck Tom….I’m very, very excited 🙂

And I hope the podcast made your drive a productive one!

As far as scratching the surface is concerned, that’s so very true. There’s much, much more to be said and learned on this subject.

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:47 pm

Marcus Sheridan

Never over-the-top from you Dorman! Let’s say it again, shall we?

@LanierUpshaw !!!

How’s that??

Be well brother,

Marcus

September 6, 2011 at 11:56 pm

Shannon

Thank you! I’m definitely trying – just started my blog last week so I know I need to be patient and focus on creating quality content that people will enjoy reading and make sure that I’m still managing to sell in a subtle manner. Hope I get the hang of it soon. No one’s commenting or following my blog yet, but even when I just see some page views go up, I get SO excited! Such a nerd 🙂

Hi…Will these be really effective?I have to check it out…Thanks for sharing…

September 7, 2011 at 8:32 am

Marcus Sheridan

Hey Peggy, great to hear from you, as always. 🙂

I like how you mention product case studies here, which is highly effective, and certainly a great ‘happy medium’ when done the right way.

I think overall, we’ve got a lot of bad habits to break when it comes to selling, especially online. Not that overt selling is a bad thing at all, it’s just a matter of proper balance, like everything else in life I guess 😉

Cheers Peggy!!

Marcus

September 7, 2011 at 8:34 am

john Falchetto

Hi Marcus, How is the conference going?

I think it goes several ways. As Marianne mentions testing is everything. Back in my last business we use to cold call, a lot. Companies and government agencies were not really developed in terms of marketing and cold calling was the best way to get our foot in the door.

Now an interesting point is that we never called to pitch or sell. We always asked for a meeting to show & tell our services. So in a way since the internet wasn’t a viable channel we were doing offline marketing by showing how we had helped others.

A bit like what we do online these days. 😉

Thanks for the mention, Falchetto doing it right has a nice ring to it 🙂

September 7, 2011 at 10:18 am

Al Smith

Another good one, my friend. There is a fine line between going overboard on selling and not being assertive enough. We need to find that balance, just like in life. Always appreciate your words of wisdom. When I start to get customers, I will be using testimonials and videos to promote our services. Love what you said; “It’s not about bragging, but you need to tell the world what you do and how you can be of value to them”

Thanks again Marcus, for all you do. Have fun in Cleveland.

Al

September 7, 2011 at 10:48 am

Craig McBreen

Monday is D-Day for me 🙂 Possibly before.

Thanks, Marcus!

September 7, 2011 at 2:13 pm

Davina K. Brewer

Ah fall, to be trapped in a conference room in Cleveland this time of year. Have a good one Marcus.

The problem with this – or at least my problem – is that subtle vs. hard sell will vary. You and Craig and Matt talked about it. Those ‘pitch’ machine blogs are a turn-off to me, no matter how good the content. Not even talking the aggressively obnoxious popup ads asking for my email, to sign up for e-crap. I’m talking stuff like the pitch box that closes every blog post: “we have services, hire us to do this.” I’ve noticed some of these posts sorta stop there, don’t give the whole scoop in the post so it’s kind of a bait ‘n switch. Grr..

Anyway… what I define as a hard sell may vary, which is why I’ve done posts that address this. I do plan to do more of this ‘case study’ example post, it’s on the list. The other caveat is this: Search. I’m still working on my SEO, going back to update some post titles and descriptions and yet, this only works if people find your blog, the right people. If your clients are online, searching for ‘how to do this’ or ‘what pool to buy’ that’s great. Otherwise telling the world how awesome you are – which you are, sir 😉 – is still that loudly falling tree in the woods .. that no one heard. FWIW.

September 7, 2011 at 2:22 pm

Eugene N

Hey Marcus,

Very interesting post and Content Marketing World looks like it has an amazing lineup of speakers.

I actually just finished reading Michael Stelzner’s book “Launch”, so I found what you said pretty much fit in line with his recommendations. Except, he recommends almost never mentioning your product/service (at least that’s what I got from his book), until after you’ve built up good relationships with the readers over time. And even then, to usually mention it through what he calls a “back channel” (like email). And I’ve heard it said from guys at Hubspot that you should try to stick to 95% non promotional content and 5% promotional, or something along those lines.

I’m curious what you think about that. It think both methods would work, but certain ones may work better in specific situations than others.

September 7, 2011 at 6:14 pm

Brent Carnduff

Great article Marcus, I think I am one of those that need to be a little less subtle – I’ll give it a try. Have a great time in Cleveland – looking forward to you coming out west sometime soon, Brent

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September 8, 2011 at 10:45 am

Marcus Sheridan

Hey Brent, good to hear from you bud. I wouldn’t say you’re too much of a hard sell, unless you’re not happy with your current numbers. In other words, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. If it’s slightly broken, let’s see what we can do to help. But yes, I’ll be coming out that way soon, and will be at blog world as well.

Thanks so much for the comment,

Marcus

September 8, 2011 at 10:50 am

Marcus Sheridan

Hi Eugene, so funny you mention Michael here, I’ve literally spent the last 2 days with the guy talking and talking and talking… 😉 I don’t think we disagree per se. Again, the ‘hard sell’ comes on the back in for many folks. At the same time, subtle selling is powerful, but for the majority of people, it doesn’t come across as selling at all. It’s really a matter of helping others to be aware of who you are and what you do, but still focusing on the value of the content…if that makes sense. So my honest answer is that I’m right in line, at least for the most part, with those two companies.

But thanks so much for asking this Eugene, appreciate your support!

Marcus

September 8, 2011 at 7:28 pm

Deb Augur

Hi Marcus! Wow! You sure can hit home with your message a lot. Thanks. Really!

I’m always a bit intimidated to talk about my clients on my blog (or anywhere else). Most of them read my blog, for one thing, and they’d probably know who I was talking about. But it’s a great strategy and I certainly would if I could. I’ve got some great examples of what to do and what not to do! Hmm… I could certainly tell stories about what to do!

I know exactly what you’re talking about, though, when it comes to selling (or not selling) through your blog. I have one client that I’m a ghost writer for that won’t let me put any kind of marketing, subtle or otherwise, in blog posts or articles at all. (I’m shaking my head right now.) What a terrible loss of opportunity!

Love your wit, intelligence, wonderful story telling ability and your ability to get your point across and hit the mark every time. You rock!

P.S. Sorry I haven’t been around to visit your blog much lately. You wouldn’t believe the story if I told it to you but things have been crazy here. Hugs!

September 9, 2011 at 12:09 am

Marcus Sheridan

Moving to new country Nic? Seriously? Wow my man, that’s awesome! Wish you well in that arena and hope the ‘sales’ go as planned. 😉

Thanks so much for the support Nic!

Marcus

September 9, 2011 at 12:15 am

Marcus Sheridan

Adam, thanks so much for pointing this out bud. I agree in that it’s a shame when a blogger, who has a strong rep and built value over time, does ‘old school’ selling. Although it may work in the moment, I don’t think it does much to promote the ‘lifetime’ customer.

Anyway, you rock my friend, and thanks for all your support.

Marcus

September 9, 2011 at 12:15 am

Steve | ROI detector

Funny how most bloggers seem to fall on either sides of the spectrum…they either go for the hard sell or they don’t bother really selling anything at all. Yet most businesses fall on the “hard sell” side and think hitting you over the head with their message over and over again is the most effective way. Sure their response rate is abysmally low but they just need to reach more people! I hope your talk went well.

Cheers!

September 9, 2011 at 12:21 am

Marcus Sheridan

JK, man I’m sorry I was slow replying to this comment, because as always, it was more than stellar my friend. 🙂

Yeah, as I was saying to Adam above, bloggers have to be careful with the used car salesman approach. Although it may work in the moment, it sends out a ‘subliminal’ message of desperation, and ultimately hurts in brand imaging. And as for how you’ve been making it work (indirectly) in the corporate world, that’s the perfect example bud).

Thanks again for all,

Marcus

September 9, 2011 at 12:25 am

Marcus Sheridan

Yeah Eugene, I gotta tell you man, I’m bummed you weren’t here as well. It was dang awesome, in every way. But hey, we’ll get a chance to hang brother, sure enough.

And good luck with that subtle selling. Seriously, think about using it more in your stuff. Show’em what you’ve got. 😉

Thanks for your support my friend,

marcus

September 9, 2011 at 12:30 am

Marcus Sheridan

Brian, what a pleasure to have you here for the first time, thank you!! And sorry for the late response, I’ve been at a marketing event this week that kinda took every minute of my day.

I love your mission though, and the fact that you truly want to change people’s lives. This is awesome. But like you said, you, at some point, should be rewarded for your efforts. It only makes sense, and it’s deserved.

So I hope it happens for you my friend and I also hope you’ll swing by these parts again in the future.

Cheers!

Marcus

September 9, 2011 at 12:35 am

Marcus Sheridan

Paul, I thought this comment was awesome man, and I really don’t think we disagree very much at all actually. I think the only difference between us is that I feel like subtle needs to be a constant part of content, and the overt/hard selling needs to be at the right time and place. Both are critical, and both make for maximum results. No matter what, good selling, in all it’s forms, has a place.

Cheers brother,

Marcus

September 9, 2011 at 12:41 am

Marcus Sheridan

Hey Steve. And yep, that’s the thing man, there is too much ‘all or nothing’. As I mentioned above, there’s just got to be a better balance out there.

The conference went GREAT btw, thanks for mentioning it!!

Marcus

September 9, 2011 at 1:14 am

Jonathan

This is a great post marcus. Fun to be read and lots of ideas to be gain. To be honest I’m a new one in blogging. Hope you will always welcome me in your blog. Thanks

September 9, 2011 at 7:11 am

Nic Cartwright

Yeah – full ‘sales steam’ ahead – cheers…. Moving to US – I am a Brit…. who got lucky enough to marry a beautiful New Yorker!! If you want more info – http://www.moviecom.tv/niccartwright If you don’t – no click required…. Enjoy your blog – and I am a big fan of Inbound selling/everything – and don’t get why more people don’t fully grasp its importance #crusadegoeson Enjoy your weekend.

September 12, 2011 at 4:48 am

Rajka Milanovic Galbraith

Agree with you JK on the used car salesman pitch. Unfortunately, a really great guy I initially learned from uses a lot of this… It didn’t mean I didn’t learn from him but it made me realize my style is different.

I have largely been learning the ropes this year. My goal this year was to establish a brand and become reputable. And then give my market what they want.

But holy cow Marcus, now you have added something else I can do in the mean time time with my blog posts! This tip combined with the prior exercise of finding blog post topics (you know where you had us write down the most common things people ask us about our fields) should be the next phase of the blog: indirectly selling myself/services 🙂 Still have to think about this a bit more.

Cheers, Rajka

September 12, 2011 at 9:41 pm

Letty

Hi Marcus…Thank you for sharing this information to all of us…this really helps…

September 17, 2011 at 3:07 pm

Grady Pruitt

I just came across this article, and I think it is great! As a relatively new blogger, I can see how mentioning things that you would like to do for others subtly can help to draw attention to it so others might come to you for help in those same areas.

Thanks for sharing this great article!

September 19, 2011 at 9:08 pm

Emilie

I am really glad that you are so generous to post this kind of article for us to read…Thank you very much!!

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September 27, 2011 at 2:44 am

Solenn

Hi…We all know that people want to earn money easily at their convenience…This is a good idea for them and for me too…